GameStop CEO Wants Price Drops

Keane Ng

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Sep 11, 2008
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GameStop CEO Wants Price Drops



Dan DeMatteo, the CEO of GameStop, wants to see price cuts from the PS3 and the Wii.

"That price point is clearly an issue in this economy," DeMatteo said about the PS3's asking price in an interview with CNBC [http://www.cnbc.com/id/30233636]. According to DeMatteo, Sony needs to drop the price of the PS3 to maintain growth. Sony can talk all they want about how they're not going to do it any time soon, but they need to, DeMatteo thinks, and when they do it, they need to do it big and drop it by $100.

"I don't know that $50 gets you that much," DeMatteo said.

Sony did drop the price [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90598] of one of its products recently: the PS2. But DeMatteo doesn't really think this made much of a difference. "To be honest, it really wasn't worth doing," he remarked. "If they'd done it earlier, publishers probably would have kept making games for the PS2, but once they've stopped, they've stopped."

He also expressed a desire for Nintendo to drop the price on the seemingly ever popular Wii, stating that he thinks the console's sales could very well wane within the year. "I think [demand for] the Wii could slow down to the extent that Nintendo may want to cut the price," he said.

And, seemingly confirming speculation [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90779] that Nintendo has chopped its production costs for the Wii drastically, DeMatteo said that it's totally within Nintendo's power to do a price cut. "Nintendo has it within its arsenal to do that. The component costs have come down considerably," he said. "They used to break even on the Wii, but now they're making a considerable margin."

If they're making "considerable" bank now, why would they want to stop? That honeymoon's far from over, Nintendo probably thinks.


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Frank_Sinatra_

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Dec 30, 2008
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I don't see what is up with this guy trying to push companies around like this.
How about a compromise.
He stops screwing his customers over with used games, and companies will listen to him.
No? Thats what I thought.
 

ThaBenMan

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Mar 6, 2008
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A PS3 price drop would be sweet, I'd probably buy one if they dropped it by $100.
 

Jack and Calumon

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Dec 29, 2008
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So all of a sudden, if Gamestop want something they deserve to get it? Since when were they the nicest kids on the block?

Never that's when.
 

Jack and Calumon

Digimon are cool.
Dec 29, 2008
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ThaBenMan said:
A PS3 price drop would be sweet, I'd probably buy one if they dropped it by $100.
The sad truth is that they did.
In England it went from £425 to now £279, and it still continues to be bashed for a high price.
 

Sixties Spidey

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Jan 24, 2008
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This is coming from the man who runs a company that charges an arm and a leg for used games. I'm sorry, what he's saying has all the credibility of a 4chan post.
 

TheSKSpecial

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I think it's kinda funny that the guy whose company is raping publishers through resales is trying to dictate their business.

It's like a burglar telling you that you need nicer drapes and easier to break windows.
 

KDR_11k

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He also expressed a desire for Nintendo to drop the price on the seemingly ever popular Wii, stating that he thinks the console's sales could very well wane within the year. "I think [demand for] the Wii could slow down to the extent that Nintendo may want to cut the price," he said.
If that happens they can still act on it. However it's more likely that they'll just wait for the next big game release and if that doesn't help release colored versions of the console. Iwata said that the company's philosophy is not to give price drops because those are only a measure you take when the value of the product no longer matches the price and he'd rather increase the value to match the price again. Hey, it worked for the DS.

Darkside360 said:
Isn't Sony losing money because the PS3 is ALREADY underpriced? I heard it takes more money to make a PS3 than the price its being sold at.
Underpriced for the manufacturing cost but that doesn't mean anything about its price in relation to what customers are willing to pay.
 

ThaBenMan

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Mar 6, 2008
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Catkid906 said:
ThaBenMan said:
A PS3 price drop would be sweet, I'd probably buy one if they dropped it by $100.
The sad truth is that they did.
In England it went from £425 to now £279, and it still continues to be bashed for a high price.
Well, it's still $400 in the US, most people here would agree that it's pretty expensive.
 

Sewer Rat

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Sep 14, 2008
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Yeah good luck with that Dan, maybe you could set an example by lowering your prices first, after all, "I don't know that $50 gets you that much".
 

Tech Team FTW!

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buy teh haloz said:
This is coming from the man who runs a company that charges an arm and a leg for used games. I'm sorry, what he's saying has all the credibility of a 4chan post.
I doubt he even knows what 4chan is. He is simply out of touch. From what he has said, it looks as though he just pulled some numbers out his proverbial ass so that he can increase sales for another year by pushing around much bigger and more important companies.

There is no reason for Sony to drop the price of the PS3. Given the costs of production/shipping/resale I believe it is fair enough as it is.

If the price of the PS3 or the Wii drops at the production end, how much of a saving will we as gamers get from buying it at a reseller?

Trick question. We won't get any saving because the reseller will simply not tell the customer, therbey making another $100 profit on the console.
 

BallPtPenTheif

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Jun 11, 2008
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Maybe he should just sell the console for $100 less for a loss expecting to make more money in the long run off of PS3 games sales?

Yeah, didn't think so.
 

Sevre

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If I were to punch said CEO in the face he'd have to spend more than a hundred dollars getting reconstructive surgery so he should count his blessings.
 

samsonguy920

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TheSKSpecial said:
I think it's kinda funny that the guy whose company is raping publishers through resales is trying to dictate their business.

It's like a burglar telling you that you need nicer drapes and easier to break windows.
That made me smile. I would put up gawdy 60's era drapes and replace the windows with old fashioned glass that would slice him up to ribbons, and end up with a wall on the other side of the drapes.

Either way said "guy" is speaking out of his other end, probably with very little research to back up his claims. True it would be nice to see lower prices for games and/or systems, but not at the expense of the company tanking in today's economy. Would sure love to see the job security for CEOs plummet.
 

Monocle Man

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1) Console price lowered by $100
2) Gamestop is "unaware" of this price drop
3) Unknowing customers grant Gamestop $100 more profit a console for a while

I deciphered their nefarious schemes!
 

dagens24

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Mar 20, 2004
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Ugh, how do people not realize that the PS3 is more bang for your buck then 360. 360 core is a $100 less then a PS3 right? Through in a wireless adaptor for the 360 (which PS3 has) and boom, there you go, same prince. Plus the PS3 on top of that is a Blu-Ray player. Seriously people, what's $100 more on something you're going to spend hundreds of hours playing?
 

sheic99

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Oct 15, 2008
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Monocle Man said:
1) Console price lowered by $100
2) Gamestop is "unaware" of this price drop
3) Unknowing customers grant Gamestop $100 more profit a console for a while

I deciphered their nefarious schemes!
Just for comparison purposes, I looked up the price of a PS3 on Newegg and then on Gamestop. Surprisingly, they are the same price. Then I looked up the price of Little Big Planet on both.
Newegg <font color=white>..................Gamestop
$39.99 new<font color=white>............$54.99 Used

Apparently, he just likes screwing us on game prices.
 

scotth266

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Jan 10, 2009
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Whatamaroon. Yep, a Bugs Bunny reference from me. Whoulda' thunk?

Supply and demand drive prices. That is the rule of buisness.